SEO
This feature is exclusively available for the connection of multiple Expansion stores in the Orbe Plus Plan, as Shopify natively handles it for a single store.
Hreflang, a feature provided by the new 'app embed' in Orbe, enables you to effectively manage hreflang tags for multiple connected Shopify stores. This management plays a crucial role in optimizing your SEO by assisting search engines in comprehending your store structure and directing users to the most relevant site based on their location and language.
Furthermore, implementing hreflang tags helps mitigate the issue of search engines considering localized versions of your websites as duplicate content. By accurately indicating the language and region targeting of each version, you can ensure that search engines recognize and differentiate the relevant content for different regions, positively impacting your SEO efforts.
In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of managing hreflang tags for multi-region-oriented stores using the newly-released feature in the Orbe app. This feature has been specifically designed to assist you in handling multiple Shopify stores across different domains, effectively addressing the issue of missing hreflang tag information caused by Shopify's domain limitations.
Follow this step-by-step guide to modify your current live theme and activate the Orbe feature. Once enabled, Orbe will take charge of your hreflang tag management, enhancing the SEO performance across all your store instances.
Here are some references to help you understand the importance of hreflang tags for your international SEO:
In a nutshell, there are two strategies you can adopt:
- 1.Simpler approach (No changes to your x-default)
- 2.Advanced approach (Changing your x-default)
In this scenario, simply enable Orbe's app embed in all your stores, but do not activate any additional checkboxes within it. Orbe will then generate hreflang tags for your other stores.
Suppose you are connecting three stores using the Orbe Plus Plan:
- US: orbeapp-us.myshopify.com -> www.orbe.app
- Europe: orbeapp-europe.myshopify.com -> eu.orbe.app
- Rest of the World: orbeapp-row.myshopify.com -> row.orbe.app
In this case:
- 1.If you activate the app embed in the EU store, Orbe will automatically create the US and ROW hreflang tags. Similarly, activating the app embed in the US store will result in Orbe generating the EU and ROW hreflang tags.
- 2.As Shopify automatically generates hreflang tags for markets within each store, Orbe will only create those that are missing from other connected stores where you activate the app embed.
Remember not to activate the checkbox "Generate hreflang tags for this store" in this approach. We will explain when and how you can mark that checkbox to avoid any potential issues in the following section.
In this scenario, Orbe will take responsibility for creating and managing all your hreflang tags.
To begin, reach out to Shopify support and request the disabling of automatic hreflang tags. Once this is done, proceed to Orbe's app embed and activate the checkbox that grants Orbe the capability to create hreflang tags for the store you are currently utilizing. Afterwards, customize your x-default by selecting your preferred primary domain. Remember, this configuration must be applied to all your stores.
To provide a clearer step-by-step guide, here are the instructions:
- 1.Contact Shopify support to disable automatic hreflang tags. You can find the Shopify documentation on how to do this.
- 2.Once the automatic hreflang tags are disabled, go to Orbe's app embed. In the Orbe app, check the box to enable Orbe to create hreflang tags.
- 3.After enabling the checkbox, you can proceed to customize your x-default. Set your preferred primary domain as the x-default. This will be the default language version for your store.
- 1.Customizing x-default: By entering a value into the 'default domain' input, you gain the ability to tailor the x-default of all hreflang tags for your store.
- 2.Pre-requisites: The input only functions if the "Generate hreflang tags for this store" checkbox is activated.
- 3.URL Format: Always prepend your domain with 'https://'. This ensures Google bots can correctly interpret it.
- 4.Uniform Configuration: Consistency is key. Ensure you apply the same configuration across all your stores. Once completed, ask Shopify to disable their automatic hreflang tags across all your stores.
- 5.Domain vs. Specific URL:
- Domain Only: If you input just a domain, it dynamically generates the entire URL for each specific page. For instance, for a collection page, the x-default becomes 'https://yourdomain.com/collections/handle'.
- Country Selector URL: If you include a URL ending with 'country-selector', this URL remains static for all pages. This is handy if you desire an x-default for Google where users pick their preferred shipping country. As an example: 'https://yourdomain.com/pages/country-selector' makes the x-default 'https://yourdomain.com/' for all pages.
By diligently following the above guidelines, you can optimize your store's SEO and ensure a smooth user experience for international visitors.
Please ensure you include 'https://' in the default domain for it to function correctly.
Repeat this configuration process for all your stores. It's essential to apply the same configuration in each store. So, Shopify must turn off their automatic hreflang tags in all the stores.
In the simpler approach, the x-default is the primary domain of the Shopify store. So, following the previous example:
- US: orbeapp-us.myshopify.com -> www.orbe.app
- Europe: orbeapp-europe.myshopify.com -> eu.orbe.app
- Rest of the World: orbeapp-row.myshopify.com -> row.orbe.app
The x-default would be for each store the primary domain:
- US:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://www.orbe.app/"> - Europe:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://eu.orbe.app/"> - Rest of the World:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://row.orbe.app/">
However, in the advanced approach, the "x-default" will be the same for the three stores:
- US:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://www.orbe.app/"> - Europe:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="www.orbe.app"> - Rest of the World:
// <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="www.orbe.app">
This newly introduced feature will ensure more efficient management and improve SEO performance for all multi-region stores. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team through Live Chat or email.
The x-default hreflang attribute is a valuable tool for multinational and multilingual websites. It indicates to search engine algorithms that such a page does not specifically target a particular language or locale.
It allows you to specify a default home page that is not specifically targeted to any particular language or region. So you should look in your domain structure to the one that better could target to any region. It should answer the question: Which is my default website when the visitor doesn't fit with any of my localized region experiences?
Here's some guidance on determining the appropriate x-default hreflang for your setup:
- 1.Identify your base country or region: Determine the primary country or region that your company operates in or targets as its base. This serves as an important reference point when deciding on the x-default version.
- 2.Consider language support: Take into account the languages supported on your different websites. If your base country website supports multiple languages, it is a good choice for the x-default version.
- 3.Assess language-specific targeting: Analyze if any of your websites specifically target a particular language or region. In such cases, the x-default should not be assigned to those websites, as they are intended for users with specific language or regional preferences.
Let's consider an example with the website example.com, which caters to users worldwide:
Please note that while this guidance provides a general framework, it's important to consult with your SEO manager or a qualified SEO professional for specific advice tailored to your website's structure and SEO strategy.
Last modified 28d ago